Andre Agassi returns the ball to Pete Sampras during an exhibition match. AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Tennis legend Andre Agassi admitted he used something worse than steroids.  He admitted using crystal meth.  Agassi made the revelation in his new autobiography. 

He said he tested positive  for crystal meth, but he tricked the Association of Tennis Professionals by telling them he took the drugs by accident. 

Agassi said he used crystal meth in 1997 when his tennis game began to lag, and he was having second thoughts about his marriage to actress Brooke Shields.

An excerpt from the book is posted below.  Agassi writes about what happened after he tested positive for drugs.

“My name, my career, everything is now on the line. Whatever I’ve achieved, whatever I’ve worked for, might soon mean nothing. Days later I sit in a hard-backed chair, a legal pad in my lap, and write a letter to the ATP. It’s filled with lies interwoven with bits of truth.”

“I say Slim, whom I’ve since fired, is a known drug user, and that he often spikes his sodas with meth — which is true. Then I come to the central lie of the letter. I say that recently I drank accidentally from one of Slim’s spiked sodas, unwittingly ingesting his drugs. I ask for understanding and leniency and hastily sign it: Sincerely.  “I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it.”

It’s difficult for me to comprehend that tennis officials actually believed his drink was spiked.   

Agassi, who won eight grand slam titles, was a cash cow for the tennis association.  He brought millions of dollars to the sport, so I think tennis officials chose to look the other way.